Insights from our team members.

I was lying in bed the evening after the Women’s March on Washington. It had been a long day - I was up since 5:30 to perform flashmobs with my a capella group at the Women’s March on Washington. All of a sudden, my roommate runs into the room screaming something at the top of her lungs about Emma Watson. Hermione Granger herself had retweeted a cellphone video recording of us singing at the march.

I first became aware of my struggle as a Muslim-American when I had a discussion (or I guess it was more an argument, since we were in third grade) about Christmas and why I did not celebrate it. It took shape again after watching the film, My Name is Khan. The self-doubt and the sense of loathing I felt from others was especially prevalent every time that I read an article about Muslims. It hurt to read the comments, where people vehemently expressed their desire to kill Muslims, or wrote that Muslims were disgusting people who should not exist. It hurt to see the dislike from my own peers. It hurt to not fit in.

I vividly remember the first week of my freshman year: I was a lost international student looking for his niche. As I was walking around the yearly student organization fair, I bumped into someone wearing a red cape and holding a styrofoam red X. I had heard about TED talks back at home, and had watched a handful of them in class, however the thought of actually planning a conference that put on TED talks had never crossed my mind.

In December, the TEDxFoggyBottom team announced that our sixth-annual conference will take place on Saturday, April 22, 2017. There is more though. Today, we are excited to officially reveal our 2017 theme.

My time at TEDWomen can be summarized into one word: happiness. Though important and sometimes difficult and dark situations were discussed, the optimism that radiated through San Francisco, through the simulcast, and through the theater, reminded me of how lucky I was to have been there.

Since 2011, TEDxFoggyBottom has hosted a yearly conference that has grown to bring 20 speakers and more than 1500 attendees together on Ideas Worth Spreading. Today, we are excited to announce that our next annual event will take place Saturday, April 22nd, 2017, in Lisner Auditorium.

Our team is already hard at work planning event logistics, finding individuals and groups with unique voices in our community, and building the best TEDxFoggyBottom experience yet. We cannot wait to share these updates with you over the next several months.

Whether you have been to our events since 2011 or you will be joining us for the first time in 2017, we are looking forward to welcoming you to share in the important conversations of our event. Tickets will be available in early 2017 and we invite you to stay updated with our latest news via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as right here on our website.